Nyon (Switzerland), Nov 18 (IANS) Russian football club CSKA Moscow's midfielder Roman Eremenko was on Friday banned for two years after testing positive for cocaine.
The Finland international was tested after scoring the equalising goal in CSKA's 2-2 draw with Germany's Bayer Leverkusen in a Champions League match on September 14.
European football governing body UEFA decided the 29-year-old's ban will last till October 6, 2018.
Eremenko has been given three days to appeal the decision.
"The analysis of the A sample revealed the presence of cocaine and its metabolites -- a stimulant that is classified under the category of prohibited substances in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 2016 Prohibited List under class S6 -- being prohibited in-competition," a UEFA statement said.
"The player was found guilty of being in breach of the UEFA Anti-Doping Regulations, Edition 2016. As a result, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body decided to impose a two-year ban on Roman Eremenko, starting from 6 October 2016 date of the provisional suspension."
--IANS
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